Chickens not going to bed if people are outside near dusk

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

What is this!! It's not a butt. And it's not Chungus. The photo quality might suggest that it's the Loch Ness monster, but it's not that either. That is Buddy deciding to block the door and casually watch Chungus mill about at the bottom of the ladder making frustrated noises, periodically setting off the security lights but not being able to get in.
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[DonyaQuick]

I have a rooster now. In theory, and in gamer terms, this should add a buff to my flock's leadership stats. Ziggy the rooster arrived to me already trained to go to bed 1/2hr before dark. No need for a coop light or anything; he just senses the dimming light and goes in like clockwork. I don't know how his previous owners worked this magic. However...now my six little fluffy butt gremlins are trying their best to convince him that all the cool kids stay up late. My hens love their new rooster, but apparently not enough to go to bed on time when he tries very hard to call them in. He even comes back out a few times to herd them towards the ramp. So now I'm desperately trying to convince them through repetition that when their man heads up that ramp, so should they. But the complaining. THE COMPLAINING. My husband walked by as I was in the process of loading the last hens into the coop tonight and said "it sounds like they're dying." He's right. You'd think I was torturing them by making them go to bed a bit earlier.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

This thread is the funniest I've read in a good while, even though I realize it's not so funny to You. Still, you communicate their behaviors in a way that anyone who adores chickens can relate. Keep your posts coming; they make my day!

 

[DonyaQuick]

Sooooooo.....6 months after I started this thread, where am I at? Well...

I forgot to take the naughty outside roosting bar out one night. Rooster wanted to go into the coop. Hens did not. The power of peer pressure to the rescue! For the hens, that is. They made him exit the coop and join the naughty brigade. And so, I have removed the naughty bar for good. They have other bars elsewhere now that they can use during the day when it's not bedtime. They were mad at first but seem to have gotten over it.

With the naughty bar gone, my rooster is actually making the ladies go to bed pretty darned well...with one condition: I must hug Chungus before I go inside for the evening. Easy right? Except...she doesn't remind me about it. She doesn't even stand in front of me. She stands vaguely in my field of vision somewhere. Quietly. It's very un-Chungus-like. I have to remember and seek her out. And what happens if I forget? You guessed it...doorbutt. Every single time.

On the plus side, she is training me well and I haven't forgotten in a week or so lol.

Oh, and it would seem that 6 months later I have still completely failed at my original goal of them not charging out if I go out late. If the auto door is open and there is even one photon left out there, Chungus hears the house door open and still comes charging out. That then starts a chain reaction of chickens spilling out the door even though they realize quickly they can't see where they're going. My rooster Ziggy is the only one who stays in.

This thread is the funniest I've read in a good while, even though I realize it's not so funny to You.

Most of it is still pretty funny on this side of it too lol. I've been wondering about making a flock thread at some point to share random bits of the absurdity that goes on other times of day. My bunch of little fluffs are always the highlight of my day in some way or another.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Alright...9 months now after I started this thread. Many ups and downs with my flock between then and now. Lost my rooster but gained several of his offspring.

And with a new generation comes a new doorbutt. A double doorbutt.

This happened immediately after I remarked in another thread about how everyone was going to bed by themselves. I put the youngsters in the coop manually on their very first night and then they just started going in like magic along with everyone else, right on time each evening. For a week I had total perfection even though I had no good explanation for it. I should have known it wouldn't last lol.

 

[DonyaQuick]

GO TO BED SQUISHY!

(ok fine your little "ee boo boooo?" is too cute so you get a hug first)

 

[DonyaQuick]

Well I've gone and done it now. Chungus is never going to go to bed on her own again. She was broody for ages and incubating for me in the house, and she has only been back out with the others for a couple weeks. During that time she was actually going to bed with the others. One night though, she finally realized the new batch of chicks are getting extra attention by doorbutting, and that triggered a total meltdown of fussing about and causing a ruckus in the dark. That's when I made a critical mistake: I opened the small side door to take her out for a small hug and put her back on the roost in a better spot so that things would cam down. As soon as I picked her up...there is regular, calm kissy-poo I get from my other chickens and then there is this bizarre, level 9000 kissy-poo that Chungus does sometimes, which involves vibrating and nearly hyperventilating while doing all kinds of weird little grunts and licking my chin. So now she knows she can mooch both a bedtime-prep hug and a dangit-go-to-bed-already hug...and thus I'm back finding her in odd places waiting to be put to bed manually when I go to do the nightly doorbutt check.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Well, things are improving. For reference: Squishy (front), and my two boys, Monster (left), and Junior (right)...

Perks of having two big cockerel brothers:

• Big huggy boys.
• Nice feathers.
• Getting everyone into the coop at night is a cooperative effort.
• No more doorbutting.
• No more after dark "ee boo boooo?" leaning out the door from Squishy.
• Even Chungus is going to bed in the coop with the others.

IT'S WORKING OMG YES IT IS ACTUALLY WORKING. PERFECTION. I CAN USE THE AUTO DOOR AGAIN...but at what cost?

• Making me spill an entire week's worth of treats is also a cooperative effort.
• "Monster did you just untie my boot?"
• Derp derp derp derp flap flap flappity derp hop hop
• "Monster what are y--are you disassembling the feeder???"
• What's that awful noise? Squealing brakes? Loose fan belt? Oh, it's just Junior complaining that he wants a hug and isn't getting one right this instant.

But you know what...if that's the solution, I will take it.